How Can I Not Love You?
by majorfangirl
Summary: Yamanaka Ino is an artistic, social girl who pulls shy Hyuuga Hinata out of her shell and quickly becomes her best friend, but when their relationship evolves in ways neither expected, will the friendship survive? InoHina other pairs possible


**A/N: This idea hit me out of nowhere, but I really want this to be one of my more emotional stories. I want it to be very deep. This will not be my last InoHina for I had an idea for another one, based around the lyrics of Hand in Glove.**

**Hikari: Now make with the writings!**

**Me: Mentions of NaruSaku and ShikaTema, possible SasuIno, KibaHina, or ChoIno later.**

_Ding, ding, diing._

And so the bell made me let out a frustrated groan as I stared at the clay mess before me. Art class was over, this was due tomorrow, and my only choice was to stay after school and finish it. After all, I got bad enough grades due to lack of skill; I couldn't afford to get a zero on a project simply because I wasn't fast enough.

I would stay after, but I sure as heck wouldn't enjoy it. It wasn't that I hated art, I just hated the fact that no matter how hard I worked at it, I always managed to have some level of fail that was beyond salvation.

With a sigh, I left the art room and walked to my fourth hour class, chorus, and kept my voice almost not heard, much to the annoyance of Ms. Yuhi, the chorus teacher. I absolutely didn't want anyone in the world to know that I-

"Hyuuga!" Temari said, snapping me out of my thoughts as I left the chorus room. Blonde with teal eyes, Temari was one of my best friends, though she was a senior and I was a junior due to my inconvenient December birthday, causing me to be a year behind most everyone decent.

Such as Uzumaki Naruto, the cute blonde senior with the ocean blue eyes. I admit that he can be a bit…_much_, but that was the perfect contrast to my plainness. Unfortunately for me, so was Haruno Sakura, his gorgeous, pink haired girlfriend.

How could I- the shy, indigo haired girl with the scary white eyes- ever hope to compete with someone as confident as she? Though I had crushed on him for years, it would never happen simply because we were in completely different worlds.

I stared at Naruto as we ate our lunch, me, Temari, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Shikamaru, the lazy, polar opposite of Temari, dated the forceful girl, Chouji was his best friend, and Kiba and Shino had been good friends of mine since we met back in kindergarten. These were the people who understood and could put up with my shyness.

Over at Naruto's table was Uchiha Sasuke, the raven haired ladies man, Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's blonde friend that I had never really learned much about, Sabaku no Gaara, a junior who was also Temari's brother, Karin and Ami, the Sasuke groupies, and Matsuri and Sari, the Gaara groupies.

Matsuri, Sari, and Ami were probably the most annoying girls I had ever seen and I absolutely could not stand them, though I had almost all of my classes with them. Again with the inconvenient December birthday.

I'm going to admit right here and now that I had the most boring life anyone could ever hope for, before _she_ came into my life, but that's not happened yet in this story. I had my friends, but outside of school, I usually didn't see them. Temari would drive me home in the afternoons, but she would never stop to hang out with me.

After all, I lived in the daunting Hyuuga mansion, with my father, sister, and orphaned older cousin. We weren't the closest family, but we also didn't have a terrible relationship, though my father always came off as cold, effectively scaring away my friends and always disappointed that I didn't ever have anyone over. I was always alone in my room and anyone could tell that he wished I were a bit more social.

All in all, it was a lonely, boring existence, and I did nothing to try to change it; I was not daring, I was not bold, I was a mouse, unworthy of challenging the beast that is life. But now I'm getting metaphorical.

"Temari," I said quietly, like always. "I…I need to stay after school to finish my art project, s-so I'll just take the bus home…a-alright?"

"Okay, sure," she replied casually, as if it were nothing. It probably was, but I took every scrap of friendship and treasured it as if a simple car ride everyday was a million dollars. I may or may not have had a few insecurity issues involving my small friendships.

I hated taking the bus, by the way. I don't know why, I just hated being confined with all those people, anxiously waiting for the stop nearest my home. Then, of course, was the trek from the bus stop to the mansion that I really didn't seem like I belonged in. However, I would never ask Temari to wait for me or inconvenience her in any way, shape, or form. I was just sickeningly nice like that.

The rest of the day passed like always, me sitting quietly in class, blushing when anyone so much as looked at me, and dreading the work on my sculpture and the bus ride to follow after school.

Of course, how could I know at the time that it would lead to the best and worst thing in my life? How could I know that after school, everything would change for me? How could I know that I would end up getting to know someone who would change my life, for better or for worse?

**A/N: Kind of short, but if I wrote it any longer, I'd have to go ahead and introduce Ino, and I'm too lazy to write any more. What I write from Hinata' s POV might seem OOC, but she's got to have some place for normal, non-shy things to go, so why not her thoughts? I like her better this way, and I will write this way. Her interactions will still be as in-character as I can make them.**

**Hikari: Now review if you want any InoHina action!**


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